iOS Mail App with Multiple Accounts

[vbmike73]

I have several email accounts set up on my iPhone X, using the iOS mail app. One Yahoo account which is my main one and a few Gmail accounts that I monitor for my kids. With regards to the combined Inbox, I'm getting inconsistent behavior when the same email is sent to all accounts.


In some cases, I will see the email listed 4 times, one for each account, which is what I prefer. But other times I will only see it listed once, and it's for one of my kid's accounts. So an email is sent to my Yahoo and one of the Gmail accounts, and it only shows one time, and it's the Gmail one.


So is there a setting somewhere that I can change to force it to always show all emails, or at least make my Yahoo the primary so I would see that one when it decides to only list it one time?

Just to clarify, this is not an issue of duplicate emails. I am not receiving duplicate emails to the same account. This seems to be the only topics I can find help on when I search though.

 

[The Merg]

Are you sure the other copies of the email just haven’t been pushed down from the server yet? Try pulling down on the Mail List to refresh it and force a push from the server.

If you log into the other accounts via the web, do you see the email in those accounts?

- Merg

 

[vbmike73]

Are you sure the other copies of the email just haven’t been pushed down from the server yet? Try pulling down on the Mail List to refresh it and force a push from the server.

If you log into the other accounts via the web, do you see the email in those accounts?

- Merg

They have definitely been pulled form the server. I know this without logging via the web, because if I go out of the combined Inbox and into each individual one, the only one that is marked as read is the one Gmail account. If I go into my Yahoo account, it shows the same message as unread.

I even just did my own test, which behaved the same way. I sent an email from another account to my Yahoo and two of the Gmail accounts. It showed up one time in my combined Inbox, but also showed in each individual Inbox. When I go back to combined Inbox and mark it as read, it is marking the one sent to the Gmail account, and the Yahoo account and other Gmail account still show as unread.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I know exactly what the OP means. If I send an email from a third account to both of the accounts (one Gmail, one Exchange) on my iPhone the message sometimes shows up once in "All Inboxes" (and "Unread", also). If I mark it read in the "Unread" folder and back out of the "Unread" folder the other account message appears in the "Unread" folder. It's isn't instantly apparent which account you're dealing with in either folder.

I don't think there's any official info or explanation on this behavior.

 

[vbmike73]

I know exactly what the OP means. If I send an email from a third account to both of the accounts (one Gmail, one Exchange) on my iPhone the message sometimes shows up once in "All Inboxes" (and "Unread", also). If I mark it read in the "Unread" folder and back out of the "Unread" folder the other account message appears in the "Unread" folder. It's isn't instantly apparent which account you're dealing with in either folder.

I don't think there's any official info or explanation on this behavior.

Exactly! Thank you for least letting me know I'm not the only one seeing this.

 

[The Merg]

OK… I see what you are saying. The email is appearing in each of the individual inboxes, but only once in the combined inbox, right? But sometimes it does show all copies in the combined inbox?

Hmmm... That is an interesting one.

- Merg

 

[mikehalloran]

Yahoo! mail issues are often resolved by deleting then re-adding the account. Yahoo couldn't get it right and Verizon does little better.

I meant to change my business account to anyone else. Then I got the confirmation that it had automatically renewed. Damn.

 

[vbmike73]

Yahoo! mail issues are often resolved by deleting then re-adding the account. Yahoo couldn't get it right and Verizon does little better.

I meant to change my business account to anyone else. Then I got the confirmation that it had automatically renewed. Damn.

It's not just an issue with the Yahoo one though. The Gmail ones behave the same way. If I send an email to the 3 Gmail accounts, it will usually only show up once.

And what makes it even more strange is that if I delete the one single email in the All Inboxes, it will delete it from all other accounts as well.

 

[dk001]

It's not just an issue with the Yahoo one though. The Gmail ones behave the same way. If I send an email to the 3 Gmail accounts, it will usually only show up once.

And what makes it even more strange is that if I delete the one single email in the All Inboxes, it will delete it from all other accounts as well.

One Outlook exchange, four Gmail - I stopped using the combined inbox for exactly that reason. All the listed Unreads may or may not show up. It became too much of a pita. Stopped using All Inboxes.

 

[NoBoMac]

Wild guess here, but, could be tied to the "Message-ID" field in email headers. Email gets generated with a specific ID at send time, shows up in all mailboxes with the same id, Mail only shows one since already have that ID in the list (ie. it really isn't a unique email even though in multiple accounts).

 

[dk001]

Wild guess here, but, could be tied to the "Message-ID" field in email headers. Email gets generated with a specific ID at send time, shows up in all mailboxes with the same id, Mail only shows one since already have that ID in the list (ie. it really isn't a unique email even though in multiple accounts).

Could see that if the issue was consistent.

 

[vbmike73]

Wild guess here, but, could be tied to the "Message-ID" field in email headers. Email gets generated with a specific ID at send time, shows up in all mailboxes with the same id, Mail only shows one since already have that ID in the list (ie. it really isn't a unique email even though in multiple accounts).

Actually I think you hit the nail on the head! If I think about it, the main time I notice receiving the exact same email message on all accounts, which shows up as separate emails in the All Inboxes view, is when we receive emails from an organization we all belong to. They are sending out tens of thousands of emails at once, but the way they're sent, Id be willing to bet they are sent as individual emails as part of a process, and not a bulk email. Causing the timestamp to be slightly different, thereby showing up as individual emails. That makes total sense. I'll pay closer attention next time we all receive one of those updates.

Now I just wonder if there is a way to make my Yahoo account "the one" that is always showing up in the All Inboxes...

 

[NoBoMac]

Now I just wonder if there is a way to make my Yahoo account "the one" that is always showing up in the All Inboxes...

Another WAG, do not think so (have not seen any such option/setting). Guessing random-ish in that first account that pings (ie. Whoever gets/processes first) is the one that shows.

 

[vbmike73]

Another WAG, do not think so (have not seen any such option/setting). Guessing random-ish in that first account that pings (ie. Whoever gets/processes first) is the one that shows.

Do you mean that even when an email is sent at the exact same time by using CC, they are still processed individually? Based on what we've discussed they would all have the same timestamp in this scenario, right? Which is what would cause them to show only one time in the All Inbox.

 

[BrianBaughn]

My "push" Exchange account usually gets mail first as Gmail in on fetch. My Gmail account is my default.

It seems that, after both accounts have received the email, if I read one of these dupes in "All Inboxes" it is marking the Exchange account version.

 

[vbmike73]

My "push" Exchange account usually gets mail first as Gmail in on fetch. My Gmail account is my default.

It seems that, after both accounts have received the email, if I read one of these dupes in "All Inboxes" it is marking the Exchange account version.

Yeah I just did a few tests and can't seem to get any consistency as to which account it will mark as read. It is odd though that when I go to delete the one in the All Inbox, regardless of which account it's actually showing, when I swipe left it shows me that it is deleting 3 at once. Seems like that would be a setting in iOS to control how it shows. Very misleading.